Effect of longitudinal electric fields on electrostatic electron cyclotron waves

The influence of static parallel electric fields on the characteristics of obliquely propagating electron Bernstein waves is studied. Analysis of the equilibrium state defines the range of validity of the adopted model, (a collisionless, locally homogeneous medium described by the Vlasov and Poisson equations). An iterative method yields the modified dispersion relation whose numerical solution, for an idealized medium, suggests the relevance of the effects induced by static parallel electric fields in natural plasmas. (author)